United States Eventing Association

From the Midwest to Morven, Julie Wolfert and SSH Playboy Take the CCI4*-L Lead

Leesburg, Va.—Oct. 11— Three years ago, Bucyrus, Kansas-based professional Julie Wolfert and her two good friends Renee Senter and Sheri Gurske, went to Ireland where they tried about 40 horses before they decided to go in together on the now 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding SSH Playboy (Cit Cat x Stomeyford Black Pearl).

"It was kind of a rough start," she reflected. "He can be kind of arrogant at home, kind of spicy, and he's definitely bucked me off a few times. But, over the years, I've learned to trust him a little bit more, and I now know his quirks."

Last year, "Jaego" bucked Wolfert off at the Carolina International (Raeford, North Carolina), resulting in Wolfert having to have ankle surgery and putting her out for half of the year. When they were finally able to get back to work, Jaego got her off again, resulting in more injuries and more downtime for Wolfert.

"There was a point where I was trying to sell this horse, like he is too much for me?" she said. "But in the back of my mind, I was like, he is a freak of nature. He's an awesome jumper. Every horse at this level is quirky. You just have to learn how to ride them and stick with it. So I told myself that this was going to be my year."

Wolfert had big goals for the 2024 season, and at first, it appeared as if thing were going all according to her plans.

"This year has actually been quite big for me," noted Wolfert. "The first time I ever did a four-long was this spring at Tryon [Mill Spring, North Carolina], and he did really well. My goal this year was just to try to get two four-longs in and get qualified to do a five-star hopefully next year."

But after a successful spring season, Wolfert and Jaego encountered a few roadblocks across the summer.

"It hasn't been terrible, but we had some run outs that aren't normally typical for us," she said. "I live in the Midwest, and it's really hard to go to a lot of events in the middle of the summer—same thing for the fall. There's just not a lot to choose from without literally going across the country every other week. We went to Rebecca Farm [Kalispell, Montana], and we did the four-long there, and he started out just not paying attention and almost backed off. Then the entire course he just was sticky everywhere, so I was really bummed. And of course, as riders, we get in our head about that, and we try to go back to square one and try to fix things, but then it's hard to try to fix things. There are really no big venues to cross-country school where I'm at to set up the combinations that I need. So I try my best to make it happen at home."

Wolfert decided to prep for the $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final at the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds [Lexington, Kentucky] at the end of the summer but found they were experiencing similar issues there as well. She had an offer to stay at Jan Byyny's farm in Purcellville, Virginia, and she took it in hopes of gearing up for their next CCI4*-L outing here at the Morven Park International.

"I was able to cross-country school at her place literally every day, and I made him walk down banks until he was bored with life to try to give us our best shot. I knew there was a huge drop here that I had to get ready for," she said, referring to Morven Park's famous Leaf Pit.

All of their preparation paid off as the pair delivered a double-clear trip across the country today to move them up from sixth after dressage to now leading the division.

"I was very nervous. I didn't know what to expect. I was like, 'My horse is gonna be a badass, or it's not gonna go well.' I'm so glad today was my day."

Wolfert took a huge sigh of relief on course after they tackled the Leaf Pit.

"He was so game, and he was paying attention. If I kicked him forward, he listened. He just gave me a great ride out there. It was the best round of my entire life. I was crying afterward. He was so good. I'm just trying to relive every moment again."

She credits today's success to Byyny's kindness.

"I've always been kind of embarrassed to ask for help from anyone because I just know everyone has their program, and they're all really busy," she said. "I've just been trying to kind of do it on my own, and I definitely need to work on that, on reaching out. That's why what Jan did was so nice. I met her, and she was just like, 'Just come out to my place!' I can't thank her enough."

Dressage leaders Lucienne Bellissimo and Dyri dropped one place to second with 4.8 time penalties, but Bellissimo wasn’t bothered by it.

“He was a really good boy,” she said. “I'm really proud of him. It was a little scrappy in places, but that's as brave as he's ever been. He was just traveling better today overall. He's still a little bit lookey, but so much more genuine and just felt like he understood his job better than last time I was here.”

The 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Diarado x La Calera), who’s owned by Horse Scout Eventing, is hoping for a clear round over tomorrow’s show jumping course.

“If he's tired—he's not run this fast before ‘round of four-long—sometimes they just surprise you, and they suddenly are a little flatter than normal,” she said. “I hope he can jump a clear, but similarly, he's proven to me today he's good enough to do the distance. And if he needs to have a little bit more work with the show jumping, will work with that.

Even though Allison Springer and Nancy Winter’s No May Moon came into Morven Park on the back of a win in the MARS Bromont International CCI4*-L (Quebec, Canada) in June, Springer admitted she was still a bit nervous heading out on course today as the pathfinder.

But with fast going and confidence in the 10-year-old Connemara cross mare (Catherston Dazzler x Ebony Moon), Springer put her foot on the gas and came home with one of four double-clear rides. They moved into third place from 12^th after dressage on a score of 38.1.

“There are definitely some parts in this course where it's like, you’ve got to do your best job to give them a great ride in, and then you have to have a partner,” she said. “You have to have a horse that's picking up on it and reading it. She was just spot on. She just kept looking for the flags and doing it.”

Springer calls the mare her “little dirt bike,” and said she likes to jump out of pace, so she lets her run where she wants to.

“I feel like she finished incredibly strong, looking for all the flags, and recovered really well,” she added.

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